Fun with the Standings

After another solid effort against Calgary on Tuesday night, I am very pleased to browse the standings with the cup of morning coffee. Funny how winning breeds a desire to look, and when the Stars are playing horrible, I avoid the Standings.

So, I did a little project with the numbers. Here, are the standings from the opening of the season thru November 30th:

Pos	Team	Points
1.	San Jose	41
2.	Detroit	34
3.	Anaheim	31
4.	Vancouver	30
5.	Minnesota	29
6.	Calgary	29
7.	Chicago	26
8.	Nashville	24
9.	Los Angeles	23
10.	Columbus	23
11.	St Louis	22
12.	Colorado	22
13.	Phoenix	22
14.	Edmonton	22
15.	Dallas	20

Table Tutorial

And here, are the standings from December 1, through last night (Feb 3):

Pos	Team	Points
1.	Chicago	38
2.	Detroit	37
3.	San Jose	36
T4.	Dallas	35
T4.	Calgary	35
T6.	Edmonton	31
T6.	Phoenix	31
8.	Columbus	30
9.	Colorado	27
T10.	Anaheim	26
T10.	Los Angeles	26
12.	Nashville	25
T12.	St Louis	25
T14.	Vancouver	24
T14.	Minnesota	24

Table Tutorial

Much better, eh? But, wow, Detroit, San Jose, and especially Chicago are the real deal. I think we all respect the Blackhawks now, but are curious how they hold up to the playoff tension that lies ahead. San Jose is awesome, but there is nothing they can do to quiet their demons until they quiet them in late April/early May. Detroit is Detroit.

The bottom line is that the Stars are in a good spot, but by no means have they arrived. They have to keep digging hard to get where they want to go. But, the prospect of the playoffs certainly can no longer be labeled a long shot.